October 1, 2014

It's time for another "last minute push" post from us, as we encourage you to help Virginia Paine successfully complete her Kickstarter campaign to fund the Fall Sparkplug Books line.

The popular small press publisher, now in the hands of Paine after Dylan Williams lost his battle with cancer, has continued on, working to finish the series he started, such as Elijah Brubaker's Reich series, which would reach its twelfth issue as part of the two-book offering.

A page from Reich 12.

Virginia is honest about the fact that it hasn't been easy to keep the line going after Williams' passing. As she notes, they publish "underappreciated, idiosyncratic comics by really awesome folks" which means that while they may be the critical darlings of bloggers like those of us at Panel Patter, Rob Clough, and many others, they aren't always at the forefront of commercial success.

She'd like to make sure that Reich finishes, along with publishing other books that are in the same spirit as those that came before from Sparkplug, and as of this writing, they are extremely close to their $6500 goal, but still need several hundred dollars to put them over the top.

The two books that would be published in this offering include Reich 12, which is the last issue of the story of Dr. Wilhelm Reich, a protege of Freud with some controversial ideas. Brubaker has worked hard on this biography, and it would be a shame not to see it reach the end.

A page from Vortex

The other works is Vortex by William Cardini. It's a collection of Cardini's minis. This is the one that appeals strongly to me, because of Virginia's description:

Bold, mystical, expertly designed and engrossing - Vortex follows the Miizzzard as he travels to a mysterious planet and battles a strange, regenerating monster. The story gets more complex as the Miizzz finds himself sympathizing with the monster and her kin.

Now that's exactly the kind of book I'd love to see published!

If you agree, why not see if you have a few dollars to spare? Levels range from $5 postcard+FCBD offering to digital tiers for a bit more, physical copies (making it a matter of pre-ordering), and higher rewards that offer t-shirts and art.